February 13, 2021
Sharing from the Congregation – David Petty
So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel from that morning until the appointed time; and seventy thousand of the people died, from Dan to Beer-Sheba. — 2 Samuel 24:15
In an odd coincidence, both the year 2020 and the last chapter of the books of Samuel contained a census and a plague. I don’t think it’s anything more than a coincidence; I certainly don’t think COVID-19 is a punishment for the regular U.S. census.
In the story from Samuel (repeated in First Chronicles) King David orders a census of Israel, despite the advice of his chief of staff not to do so. Later he regrets this action, and the Lord inflicts the pestilence as a punishment. David realizes that his own actions have brought the calamity against his people, and the Lord allows him to make atonement.
According to the account, 70,000 people died. To put that in perspective, the death toll from COVID-19 in modern Israel was 4,816 as of Feb. 1. 70,000 is surely an estimate, and perhaps an overestimate. But in any event enough people died to cause alarm.
It isn’t at all clear what was wrong with conducting a census. It has been suggested that the census was a intended as a prelude to a universal tax. Another theory is that David was assessing the size of his army (the census numbers reported in the scripture refer to the numbers of soldiers counted) in preparation for more military conquests. Perhaps he simply wanted to stroke his own pride in how large his country had become.
In general, though, the king’s sin seems to have been presumption. Having reached the point that he was very rich and powerful, he felt that he could get away with anything. I think he was a lot like the rich fool in Jesus’s parable of Luke 12:16-20, who thought he could build bigger barns and take his leisure. It’s easy enough when we are successful to believe the logic that what makes us comfortable is what’s right.
David was not personally affected by the plague, but he saw what happening to his people. “I alone have sinned,” he told the Lord, “and I have done wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done?” One wishes all of our leaders would take that kind of responsibility. One wishes the rest of us would too.
Gracefully submitted,
David Petty